Fighter
by Shadow Bardock and Gengar
Summary: Ash had desired a squirtle but a twist of fate gave him a pikachu. How will a single change effect a boy's journey?


Fighter: The Start

"In 1996, the Indigo League was established. Trainers from around the world could battle to become the champion of Kanto. To enter the League, you need to travel Kanto and collect eight badges: The Butterfly Badge, the Boulder Badge, the Cascade Badge, the Thunder Badge, the Rainbow Badge, the Soul Badge, the Mind Badge, and the Volcano Badge.

If you beat the league you have the option to challenge the Elite Four: Lorelei the Ice Queen, Bruno the Fighting Expert, Will the Psychic Prince and Agatha the Ghost Crone. However, because Lance the Dragon Master had moved to Johto, the place where he was born, to be the Champion there this year, there is an army of trainers this year wanting to be the Champion of Kanto. That is all for the Pokemon Show tonight." The TV host said.

Ash grinned as he turned off the TV, tomorrow was the day that he became a Pokemon trainer: he had made sure that his alarm clock was set for the correct time and he was confident that he would get squirtle before Gary. He then fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

 **"** **Beep, Beep"**

Ash's eyes snapped open as the sharp noise of the alarm clock pierced his slumber, he hurriedly got himself dressed and went downstairs to be greeted by the delicious aroma of his mother's cooking. He wolfed down the last of his breakfast and said he'd be back with his starter soon.

Ash shot off to Professor Oak's lab, he hoped Gary hadn't gotten his starter before he had, because he had decided on squirtle despite knowing that Gary also wanted one as well.

Bulbasaur was a grass-poison type and used its powders and its vines to defeat opponents. It was the easiest to raise as bulbasaur's tended to be quite obedient, it also had access to Solar Beam; an incredibly powerful move that can down most foes in a single blast. Solar Beam drew on solar power from the sun to fire a beam entirely composed of solar energy. It was also a very sturdy pokemon that could take and dish out powerful blows.

Squirtle was a pure water type and used its incredibly tough shell and, when it evolved into blastoise, hydro cannons that could puncture _steel_ to battle adversaries. It was the best defensively of the three but its drawback was its abysmal speed. Squirtle was neither easy or difficult to raise so it was a popular choice, for powerful moves it had Hydro Cannon; which came naturally to blastoise and it was just an over-powered Hydro Pump

Charmander was a pure fire type but became fire-flying later on. It used its extremely powerful flames and speed to win fights. It was a struggle to raise as the charmander line were very prideful and disobeyed trainers if they thought they were weak, so you had to build trust from the charmander stage. Its strongest move was Blast Burn; which was a more powerful Fire Blast.

Rushing into Professor Oak's lab he saw three pokeballs on the tray and Gary along with a blue haired boy waiting for him to arrive.

"Good morning Ash, now that you are here Damien can have the first pick." Professor Oak said calmly

Damien took the pokeball on the right, before releasing the pokemon inside who turned out to be charmander.

"Ash you're next."

"But gramps, I should go before Ashy-boy!" Gary whined obnoxiously.

"Be patient Gary, you will get your turn." Professor Oak reprimanded.

Grinning widely, Ash took the pokeball and clicked the release button which sent out a pokemon that had yellow fur, two red check pouches along with two brown stripes on its back, a small lithe body with stubby arms and legs and a lightning bolt shaped tail. It also had yellow pointy ears with black tips; a pikachu.

"Professor Oak, why is there a pikachu in a ball meant for a squirtle?" Ash asked in confusion.

"Oh, I must have accidently mixed up the pokeballs. You see, I caught the pikachu yesterday for the ranch but I suppose you can have it. Luckily, it was tamer than most other wild pikachu so it is fine for a beginner to handle it.

"Where is Squirtle then gramps?" Gary inquired.

"Sorry Gary but you'll have to wait longer so I can find it." Professor Oak apologised.

"Now that most of you have gotten your pokemon, I will entrust to you all a pokedex: the pokedex can give detailed information on a pokemon species, showing what moves they know as well as functioning as identification device and has a detailed account of how many badges you have, and how many pokemon you are in possession of," Professor Oak lectured. "I shall also give you all five more pokeballs to catch more Pokemon to fill up the pages of the pokedex."

Ash was amazed at what the pokedex could do, he knew that it was the latest model so it was surprising that him, Gary, and Damien were getting it. Then they were all given a pokedex as well as five extra pokeballs.

Ash decided to quickly scan Pikachu. **_"Pikachu the Mouse Pokemon, it is in its nature to store electricity, it feels stressed now and then if it is unable to fully discharge the electricity. Also, this Pokemon is male and knows Quick Attack, Tail Whip, Thundershock and Growl."_**

He crouched down to the pikachu's level before stroking him behind his ears and asked him if he wanted a nickname. The electric mouse nodded his head before leaning into Ash's touch.

As Ash pondered on what to call the pikachu he considered his eyes, they showed that the pikachu was like a storm, like a… tempest.

"How does the name Tempest sound?" Ash asked.

The pikachu vigorously nodded his head before jumping up to Ash's right shoulder and nestling there comfortably.

"Hey Ashy-boy, why don't we test out our pokemon outside once Gramps gets my squirtle." Gary said.

Ash just shrugged and walked outside the lab, ready to engage Gary's squirtle in battle, thanks to his extensive research on the species this battle should hopefully be a chinch, although Gary probably researched the squirtle line so it could be a challenge.

* * *

While he was waiting, he flipped open his pokedex and started scrolling through the pokemon that were logged in the device to see what he wanted for his team. After all, he wanted to become the best trainer and although all pokemon had the potential to be strong, some had more natural power than others.

After a lengthy period, Gary sauntered out of the lab with a pokeball in his hand, looking as cocky as ever.

"Ready, Ashy-boy?"

"What do you think?" Ash retorted

They both walked to opposite ends of the field before turning around to glare at each other. Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and Gary released his starter.

It was an eevee.

Ash's eyes widened at seeing the brown kit, its lustrous white mane glowing in the sunlight and its chocolate-brown eyes glimmering with an inner fire told him that it was very determined.

"How did you get an eevee, aren't those supposed to be almost as rare as a dratini or clefairy?"

"Well, gramps couldn't find squirtle so he gave me an eevee as compensation; besides, Eevee is way better equipped to deal with your rodent than Squirtle would have been," replied Gary "Now, what do you say we get this battle on the road."

"Fine by me, Tempest use Quick Attack!"

"Counter with your own!"

Both pokemon blurred out of sight and kicked by dust and dirt when they struck each other.

Eevee suddenly barrelled into Tempest, knocking him down to the ground before lunging and snapping his jaws into the electric mouse's neck.

The pikachu cried out in pain, writhing before unleashing a massive surge of electricity into Eevee's body. Afterwards, they both collapsed, clearly unconscious.

"W-what, we drew," Gary spluttered, "Anyway, it was probably just a fluke, see ya later."

He then rushed off after healing his eevee with a potion and recalling it.

Ash just grinned, Tempest was quite powerful and had great capabilities in battle, he turned his head towards the lab, now he had to go back and heal his pikachu.

As he walked back to Professor Oak's lab, he was intercepted by a female nidoran who hissed at him; letting the poison barbs prickle upwards. Gulping nervously, Ash tensed up; he had no way of defending himself so he opted to run as quickly as he could.

"Nidoran stop that," a sharp voice said with authority "Let Ash through!"

Ash sighed in relief, the voice was Professor Oak and he had come to rescue him from an irate nidoran. The nidoran scampered away but not before shooting an irritated glare at Ash.

"Sorry about that Ash, she's been very temperamental lately and I don't know why" Professor Oak apologized as they walked through the lab doors "Now what is it that you're here for?"

"I'm here to heal Tempest and then I will be on my way" Ash replied

"All right then, put his pokeball on the restoration machine and go and see your mother, she'll miss you" Professor Oak said, pointing to a machine with tubes on it, ready to heal any pokemon that needed medical attention.

Ash smiled at the man who had been for a long time his male role model. And walked out the lab to say goodbye to his mother.

"Ash you're back, did you get the pokemon you wanted sweetie," his mother exclaimed joyously at Ash who walked through the front door.

"No actually, I got a pikachu and drew with Gary against his eevee"

"Well done, have you got everything packed?"

Ash nodded, he had made sure he had all the essentials for a long and strenuous journey around, the sometimes unforgivably harsh, Kanto.

"Well then, I guess this is goodbye," Ash's mother said with a few tears in her eyes. "Remember to ring me when you get to Viridian City."

"I will, don't worry soon I'll have powerful pokemon to keep me safe." Ash reassured her.

Ash then walked out of his house and went back to Professor Oak's lab, only this time he wasn't ambushed by a nidoran.

"Ash, your pikachu is at 100% and I hope your journey is full of rich experiences and try your best."

Ash promised to do that and then rushed out the lab with Tempest's pokeball in hand, ready to take the league by storm.

* * *

"Rattata, dodge quick!"

Tempest sent a blast of electricity at the rattata, knocking it out.

"Rattata NO, I'll get you to a Pokemon Centre soon" the boy said while cradling the purple rat in his arms.

Ash scowled in annoyance, wasn't anyone strong enough to challenge him. On a happier note, Tempest's training was coming along excellently: his Thundershock was more accurate, his speed was higher, and his electrical reserves were bigger.

Ash looked up at the sky, it was currently sunset so he had two options: setup camp somewhere or go to Viridian City's pokemon centre to get a room. While the idea of having a _proper bed_ for the night was tempting, he wanted to have an outdoors experience.

Suddenly a loud squawk was heard, whipping his head around he saw an undignified spearow with electricity crackling around it, likely an accidental casualty of Tempest's electrical discharges, Ash almost laughed at the sight but seeing the bird open its beak to call for its flock quickly shut him up. Hurriedly unclipping a pokeball from his belt, he threw it at spearow. The flock- orientated bird was engulfed in a crimson light before disappearing into the voltorb-coloured ball.

Ash sighed in relief as he went to pick up spearow's pokeball, now the bird wouldn't... A loud screech tore through the darkening sky. Ash's eyes widened, a flock of about a hundred spearow were soaring towards him. Grabbing the lone pokeball, he ordered Tempest to stall them with Thunder Wave.

A dome of electricity impacted the flock, taking down a few birds but they weren't deterred from attacking. He swallowed hard, quickly recalling Tempest, and franticly started running for his life.

His feet pounded at the ground and his heart was thudding, Ash knew that if he released the spearow that he caught, it would re-join the flock as soon as it came out, Tempest was too drained to take on the rest of the flock, even if he used Thundershock.

Suddenly, he slipped, crashing harshly against the ground and his knees scraped on the ground. Hurt, he could only look up to see the swarm of birds descend on him.

"Titan, use Hyper Beam" A mysterious voice snarled.

A gargantuan snorlax sent a blindingly bright blast of raw energy at the remaining spearow, some tried to fly away but were caught in the ensuing explosion.

The next thing Ash saw was an army of birds charred and unconscious .

"Not even worth my time," the voice scoffed "Anyway, why didn't you return your pikachu and run, even though had a type advantage those spearow would have torn you two to pieces."

He now turned his piercing stare onto Ash who started to squirm, clearly uncomfortable. He was wearing a black shirt with a navy jacket over it, baggy black pants and brown shoes.

"I thought that I could get Tempest to delay them, then return him and then run away." Ash responded nervously, getting up despite the pain.

"Hmph, I suppose I can't blame you, when I was an amateur I thought the same thing, it would be stupid of me to criticise you for a mistake I too made," the man mused. "The name's Calem by the way."

"Thanks for saving me, maybe when I get stronger we can have a battle" Ash asked, feeling more at ease now that Calem wasn't scolding him.

Suddenly, a gengar burst out of Calem's shadow and immediately upon seeing Ash turned into a gaseous smoke and swirled around him like a whirlpool, once it was done it reformed and creepily watched him with its baleful crimson eyes.

"Don't mind Shadow, he's always been protective of me ever since the war" Calem said with haunted eyes as he mentioned the war.

Ash gulped, the war was a terrible accident that should never have happened.

Team Flare, a crime syndicate, had unleashed a superweapon of mass destruction onto the whole world two decades ago, because of it a massive generation gap was caused, most of the adults were either killed by the weapon or the aftereffects: infighting due to lack of resources, or the radiation, luckily Kanto had weak radiation but sadly the nearest surrounding region, Unova, had all its non-native species wiped out by the radiation and the blast.

It was brought down by the newly established Elite Four of Kalos and its first ACE trainer soon after because although they had a lot of resources, they had used them to build and activate the weapon so they were quickly destroyed.

"Were you in the war?" Ash tentatively asked, nervous of the answer.

"I'm afraid I can't say" Calem said with a thin smile on his face. "I've got to go anyways, see ya around kiddo"

He now grinned as he recalled his gengar and just disappeared...

Ash gasped in shock, he had vanished without a trace. It was almost inhuman, no he was just tired and seeing things. Calem probably used a psychic pokemon to teleport away.

Ash now began walking again, with another goal in mind; surpass Calem.

After half an hour of walking he had finally made it to Viridian City, ready to challenge the first gym leader, previously it was the last gym badge you could obtain but due to circumstances it was changed to the first gym while Blaine, the fire gym leader, was the last.

* * *

The sky was black now, and Ash was worn out from walking and a strenuous experience, setting up camp didn't sound so attractive anymore, so when he saw the bright lights and trademark red roof of the pokemon centre he sighed in relief. Walking in, he saw a few other trainers milling around but it was mostly sparse; Nurse Joy smiled happily at Ash as he approached the desk.

"Can I have a room please" He said politely, pulling out his ID so he could be checked in.

Joy took his ID and scanned it before handing it back and telling him to have a good night.

Ash then walked to his room, flopped onto the bed, and passed out.

 **A/N: It's been a while, but I'm back. Review please.**


End file.
